When one pops THE PLAGUE
OF THE ZOMBIES ($30) into their DVD player, they may be unsure if
they are watching a very cool little Hammer horror movie from 1966, or
a corporate "How To" video on lowering labor costs. THE
PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES stars Andrť Morell as Sir James Forbes, a well-respected
physician who visits a small Cornish village at the behest of Dr. Peter
Tompson (Brook Williams), a former student whose practice is floundering
due to a strange malady that is decimating the populace. At first, the
locals hinder the investigation into the cause of the mysterious deaths.
However, with a bit of digging (in the cemetery nonetheless), Sir James
uncovers that someone is practicing voodoo and has been turning the villagers
into zombies, creating a cheap labor force that will work in the local
tin mine without complaint. THE PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES features
a number of wonderfully creepy moments, including a rather intense scene
in which the zombies rise up out of their graves and stalk the living
(something that would become a staple in many horror movies produced during
the 70ís and 80ís). The cast of THE PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES includes
Diane Clare, Jacqueline Pearce, John Carson, Alex Davion and Michael Ripper.

Anchor Bay Entertainment
has done an absolutely smashing job with their DVD edition of THE PLAGUE
OF THE ZOMBIES. Not only is THE PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES presented
in anamorphic enhanced wide screen, the 16:9 transfer of the film is truly
stunning. The image is clear and highly detailed, making this about the
best-looking Hammer release to arrive on DVD. Colors are rich, fully saturated
and faithfully rendered without any flaws. Reds are especially well reproduced,
although I have never seen human blood come in the particular hue that
is used in the film. Flesh tones are very natural and very unnatural,
depending on which part of the makeup department the actors happened to
visit- check out that cool zombie gray-green makeup. Blacks are true black,
plus the image boasts excellent contrast and respectable shadow detail.
Solid authoring and the use of dual layer technology keep digital compression
artifacts at bay.

The Dolby Digital monaural
soundtrack has all of the frequency limitations of a mid-sixties production,
however the dialogue is clean and the track will take a fair amount of
amplification, without any significant distortion. A French monaural soundtrack
is also encoded onto the DVD.

The interactive menus feature
a few segments James Bernardís creepy musical score, but are otherwise
rather standard. Through the menus, one can access the expected scene
selection and set up features, as well as a few extras. THE PLAGUE
OF THE ZOMBIES includes a half-hour World Of Hammer episode
entitled MUMMIES, WEREWOLVES & THE LIVING DEAD, as well as
a couple of theatrical trailers.

Anchor Bay Entertainment
has done such a great job with their anamorphic enhanced edition of THE
PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES that Hammer fans will find the DVD impossible
to do without. Hopefully, earlier non-anamorphic Hammer titles like QUATERMASS
AND THE PIT and DRACULA, PRINCE OF DARKNESS can be revisited
with equally fantastic results.